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I have said my piece at too great length. I am very grateful to everyone who has taken part in the debate and I beg leave-

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: If the noble Lord begs leave to withdraw the amendment, I shall not be able to respond to his comments. His introductory remarks were entirely constructive; I hope that he did not think otherwise. He has identified what he considers to be a problem. He also said that the way forward that he suggested was not necessarily perfect but was an attempt to stimulate debate. We have had a very good debate. The combination of the various government amendments and the fact that we will oppose Clause 7 standing part of the Bill ought to provide considerable comfort.

There is a real problem about this House seeking to determine procedures that properly fall to the other place to resolve. I have also suggested that, while the use of the word "fairness" seems attractive on the face of it, my advisers consider that there are problems with it. I am happy to take this matter away and institute discussions with the noble Lord, who has much expertise. However, I do so without commitment.

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: I am very grateful. There must be adequate safeguards against abuse; that is all. There must be adequate safeguards of fairness and safeguards against abuse. I agree that the Government have moved towards that and that in some respects the situation is much better than it was. I would trust the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, and the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mackay, to devise a procedure between them. I leave that matter to them and the Government. On that basis, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

Amendment 49 withdrawn.

Amendments 50 to 52 not moved.

Amendment 53 had been withdrawn from the Marshalled List.

Amendments 53A and 53B

Moved by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon

53A: Clause 6, page 5, line 16, leave out from first "the" to end of line 17 and insert "Commissioner, before the Commissioner's findings are referred to the Committee on Standards and Privileges, about the findings"

53B: Clause 6, page 5, line 17, at end insert-

"( ) Procedures by virtue of subsection (8)(a) must include-

(a) an opportunity to be heard in person;

(b) an opportunity, where the Commissioner considers it appropriate, to call and examine witnesses."

Amendments 53A and 53B agreed.

Clause 6, as amended, agreed.

Clause 7 : Enforcement

Amendments 54 and 55 not moved.

Amendment 56 had been withdrawn from the Marshalled List.

Amendment 57 not moved.

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Amendment 58 had been withdrawn from the Marshalled List.

Amendment 59 not moved.

Amendments 60 and 61 had been withdrawn from the Marshalled List.

Amendments 62 to 64 not moved.

The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall): Amendment 65 has been pre-empted.

Amendments 66 and 67 had been withdrawn from the Marshalled List.

Amendments 68 and 69 not moved.

Amendment 70 had been withdrawn from the Marshalled List.

Amendments 71 to 75 not moved.

Debate on whether Clause 7 should stand part of the Bill.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: We have discussed in detail the amendments that the Government have proposed to the Bill, and which your Lordships have

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agreed, in relation to the enforcement regime. As a result of those changes, particularly the removal of any powers of IPSA to direct an MP to repay allowances or to make an amendment to the Register of Interests, or to make any recommendation to the Standards and Privileges Committee about action that it might take against an MP, the need for the provisions of Clause 7 has fallen away, as it has for the safeguards that were specifically related to those powers. Since IPSA will not be recommending sanctions of any sort, we judge that there is no need to have a protocol about how it will work with bodies such as the DPP. Since there is to be no reference to the sorts of disciplinary powers that might be appropriate, the provisions that spelt out those powers and the provisions that made it clear that these were not any sort of restriction on the inherent powers of the House were also redundant.

Our amendments to Clause 6 have adopted a different approach to the sanctions that might be appropriate where an MP has persistently failed to co-operate with an investigation. Therefore, I oppose the Motion that Clause 7 should stand part of the Bill.

Clause 7 disagreed.

House resumed.

House adjourned at 10.40 pm.

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